Carving pumpkins may be considered to be an art form requiring fairly delicate cutting of the flesh of the pumpkin, which is very soft working medium. Such cutting requires that the cutting tool be a hand-held cutting instrument which has heretofore usually been either a paring knife or pocket knife. The knife is manipulated to achieve the desired appearance by removing sidewall portions of the pumpkin flesh so that the pumpkin may be internally lit to create the desired appearance. Due to the size limitations and blade characteristics of these knives, pumpkin carving has generally been directed to the carving of major features without any attention to detail since only relatively linear cuts have been possible without damaging the pumpkin flesh.